STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
NPR is still here and still revealing stories we would not otherwise learn. That includes the story of one federal law enforcement official. Video uncovered by NPR News shows this man taking part in the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. He taunts police and urges rioters to, quote, "kill them." During one of his first acts in office, President Trump moved to end the case against this man and hired him at the U.S. Justice Department. NPR has published that police bodycam video. You can see it online. And our investigative correspondent Tom Dreisbach is here. Tom, good morning.
TOM DREISBACH, BYLINE: Good morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: Who is the Capitol riot defendant?
DREISBACH: So his name is Jared Wise, and before January 6, he actually served as an FBI agent himself for 13 years. He retired. He came to Washington, D.C., to support Trump on January 6, and he ended up entering the building through a door that was busted open by other rioters. He exited through a broken window, stayed on Capitol grounds, though, and at 4:21 p.m. - about two hours after the Capitol was breached - the bodycam video we obtained shows him going up to a police line and berating officers. First, he calls them Nazis.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JARED WISE: You're disgusting. You are the Nazi. You are the Gestapo. You can't see it.
DREISBACH: Then, when violence breaks out and other rioters start attacking, he yells, kill them. Kill them.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
WISE: Kill them. Kill them. Kill them.
(CROSSTALK)
WISE: Get them. Get them.
INSKEEP: OK. So that's the video, which you can see at npr.org. What was he charged with, and what did he say in his defense?
DREISBACH: Well, he was charged with trespassing on Capitol grounds, disorderly conduct and aiding and abetting that assault on police. He pleaded not guilty - actually took the stand at his own trial, and we got the transcript. He admitted entering the Capitol, even though he said it was "probably obvious," in his words, he "should not have." He admitted calling the cops Nazis - he said because he believed they were using excessive force. And he admitted saying, kill them. Kill them. But he testified that he did not mean it. He said he did not want anyone to die. The trial was set to go to a jury in January. But then Donald Trump took office, ordered it dismissed as part of the mass pardons he gave to January 6 defendants. And those pardons also covered the most violent defendants who were responsible for the 140 injuries to police officers that day.
INSKEEP: So what is Jared Wise doing now that Trump has hired him for the Justice Department?
DREISBACH: Well, the department did not answer our specific questions. They issued a statement calling him a valued member of the team. We have seen records indicating that he's a senior adviser. And sources say he's been working on the review of alleged weaponization of law enforcement, allegedly, by Democrats.
INSKEEP: Oh, that's very interesting. So how does this fit into the broader scope of the reporting you've been doing on pardoning January 6 defendants and so forth?
DREISBACH: Right. The administration really has taken a slew of actions on January 6. And they're in keeping with the president's claim that January 6 was not an act of domestic terrorism, which is what the previous FBI said. It's what he calls a, quote, "day of love" in his view that supporters - his supporters - who were convicted of crimes were political prisoners. The Justice Department, under his watch, has fired dozens of prosecutors who worked on January 6 cases. They paid a $5 million, or nearly $5 million, to settle a wrongful death suit brought by the family of Ashli Babbitt, a woman who was shot and killed while storming the Capitol. Earlier, the department had said that shooting was justified to protect police and members of Congress. And two former defendants even got a White House tour, we reported. One of them was convicted of assaulting cops, and he used a tomahawk to smash a Capitol window. Trump's pardon released him from prison, and he said he was proud that he got to go from the big house to the White House.
INSKEEP: NPR's Tom Dreisbach, thanks so much.
DREISBACH: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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